QUIETLY AND WITHOUT PUBLIC COMMENT, the House Judiciary
Committee is preparing for possible impeachment hearings in
case Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr delivers a report
detailing offenses by President Clinton that warrant such
action.

Defenders of the president claim that even if he lied under
oath and in fact did have a sexual relationship with Monica
Lewinsky, "everybody lies about sex'' and therefore such a lie
should not be an impeachable offense.

The legal history of lying under oath in civil cases, now being
researched by the committee, proves otherwise.

Judge Walter Nixon was impeached on May 10, 1989, for
lying about interfering with the criminal prosecution of his
business partner's son, who had been accused of drug
smuggling. Article One of his impeachment said: "In the
course of his grand jury testimony and having taken an oath
that he would tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but
the truth, Judge Nixon did knowingly and contrary to his oath
make a material false or misleading statement to the grand
jury .... Wherefore, Judge Walter H. Nixon Jr. is guilty of an
impeachable offense and should be removed from office.''

Article Three of Judge Nixon's impeachment focuses on the
consequences of lying under oath: "By virtue of his office as
a judge of the United States District Court for the Southern
District of Mississippi, Judge Nixon is required to uphold the
integrity of the judiciary, to avoid impropriety and the
appearance of impropriety and to obey the laws of the
United States. Judge Nixon has raised substantial doubt as to
his judicial integrity, undermined confidence in the integrity
and impartiality of the judiciary, betrayed the trust of the
people of the United States, disobeyed the laws of the United
States and brought disrepute on the federal courts and the
administration of justice by the federal courts ...." The
president of the United States should be held to no less a
standard.

Judge (now Democrat Florida Rep.) Alcee Hastings was
impeached in 1988 for making false statements in a case
involving bribery and reductions in sentences.

Harry Claiborne, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the
District of Nevada, was impeached in July 1986 because he
"did willfully and knowingly'' file a false return with the IRS,
a form of lying under oath since he signed a statement
swearing the information he provided was true.

More recently, and with even more relevance to President
Clinton's situation, Barbara Battalino, a former hospital
physician with the Veterans Administration, was fined $3,500
by an Idaho judge and ordered to serve a year of probation
after she admitted giving false testimony in a federal civil
proceeding involving a sexual impropriety. So much for there
being no legal precedent for penalizing those who lie under
oath about sex.

Now, on the 24th anniversary of Richard Nixon's resignation
as president, we can reexamine the articles of impeachment
against him, which a young attorney named Hillary Rodham
helped research.

In an impeachment document dated Aug. 20, 1974, the
House of Representatives formally accused Nixon of "(1)
making or causing to be made false or misleading statements
to lawfully authorized investigative officers and employees of
the United States; (2) withholding relevant and material
evidence or information from lawfully authorized and
investigative officers and employees of the United States; (3)
approving, condoning, acquiescing in and counseling
witnesses with respect to the giving of false or misleading
statements to lawfully authorized investigative officers and
employees of the United States and false or misleading
testimony in duly instituted judicial and congressional
proceedings ....''

When it receives Starr's report, perhaps as early as next
month, the House Judiciary Committee must look beyond the
meaningless polls to the meaningful law. Bill Clinton has built
his entire personal and professional life on lying. It's time he
was held accountable. It is a delicious irony that the same
committee Hillary Rodham used to bring down Richard
Nixon may now be used to remove from office her own
husband, who has brought disgrace to the office and disgust
to a growing number of
people.

8/10/98: Endangered species 8/04/98: In search of an unstained president
7/31/98: The UK is ahead of US in one area... 7/28/98: Murder near and far7/21/98: Telling the truth abouthomosexual behavior 7/17/98: One Nation? Indivisible? 7/14/98: Who cares about killing when the 'good times' are rolling? 7/10/98: George W. Bush: a different 'boomer' 7/08/98: My lunch with Roy Rogers7/06/98: News unfit to print (or broadcast) 6/30/98: Smoke gets in their eyes6/25/98: Sugar and Spice Girls
6/19/98: William Perry opposed technology transfers to China 6/19/98: The Clinton hare vs.the Starr tortoise6/17/98: The President's rocky road to China
6/15/98: Let the children go 6/9/98: Oregon: the new killing fields 6/5/98: Speaking plainly: the cover-up continues
6/2/98: Barry Goldwater: in our hearts 5/28/98:The Speaker's insightful remarks 5/26/98: As bad as it gets
5/25/98:Union dues and don'ts5/21/98:
Connecting those Chinese campaign
contribution dots
5/19/98: Clinton on the couch
5/13/98:
John Ashcroft: another
Jimmy Carter? 5/8/98: Terms of dismemberment 5/5/98: Clinton's tangled Webb
4/30/98: Return of the Jedi 4/28/98: Desparately seeking Susan4/23/98: RICO's threat to free-speech and expression4/21/98: Educating children v. preserving an institution 4/19/98: Analyzing the birth of a possible new nation 4/14/98: What's fair about our tax system?4/10/98: CBS: 'Touched by a perv' 4/8/98: Judge Wright's wrong reasoning on sexual harassment 4/2/98: How about helping American cities before African? 3/31/98:Revenge of the children 3/29/98: The Clinton strategy: delay, deceive, deny, and destroy3/26/98: Moralist Gary Hart3/23/98: CNN's century of (liberal) women3/17/98: Dandy Dan3/15/98: An imposed 'settlement' settles nothing3/13/98: David Brock's Turnabout